AhlulBayt News Agency

source : Press TV
Wednesday

31 August 2011

7:30:00 PM
263041

Iran sends 9th relief convoy to Somalia

Iran's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has dispatched its ninth shipment of humanitarian aid to famine-stricken Somalia as part of an intensifying effort to help the people of the African country.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The convoy was sent to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, from Payam airport, an international cargo airport located in the city of Karaj, 40 kilometers (24 miles) west of the Iranian capital of Tehran.

The convoy comprises foodstuff and medicine.

According to the UN, some 3.2 million Somalis, which is almost half the population, are in need of immediate life-saving assistance.

The United Nations has warned that 10 percent of Somali children aged under five are dying every 11 weeks in the country's devastating famine.

Somalia has been worst affected by famine in the Horn of Africa, which has also hit parts of Kenya and Ethiopia.

The famine in the drought-stricken area has been called “the most severe food security emergency in the world today.”

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